


Running From Your Problems

by poisonlore



Category: Persona 5
Genre: M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-16
Updated: 2018-05-17
Packaged: 2019-03-31 23:42:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13985817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poisonlore/pseuds/poisonlore
Summary: As much as he wanted to pretend he was running so frequently in order to get back in shape, the truth was it was the only thing that could take his mind off of Akira Kurusu anymore.





	1. Chapter 1

Ryuji panted and crouched down, resting his hands on his knees. As much as he wanted to pretend he was running so frequently in order to get back in shape, the truth was it was the only thing that could take his mind off of Akira Kurusu anymore. He heard heavy steps approach from behind him.

“You’re fast today,” Akira spoke, stopping to catch his breath. This was the only problem with running to take his mind off of things. Sometimes Akira would ask to join, and he could never say no to him.

The only person Ryuji had told about his feelings was Ann. Ann was his next closest friend after Akira so she was the only person he could trust with the info. Well, also his mother. He told his mom everything.

The nice thing about Ann knowing about his feelings was that on days he really needed alone time to think, he could ask Ann to invite Akira to hang out. Ann was always willing to keep Akira occupied when Ryuji needed space.

“Heh, yeah, guess I’m just feeling extra motivated today,” Ryuji answered, his breathing finally returning to normal. Today had been a day he really needed time to himself, but unfortunately Ann was busy with a photo shoot. He looked at Akira, trying to keep from blushing. “But I think I’ve had enough training for today.”

Akira smiled at him. “Me too. Do you want to come over for some curry?” he asked, and how could Ryuji refuse an offer like that?

When the two of them arrived at LeBlanc, they were greeted by Sojiro. “Welcome back. You have a friend upstairs waiting for you,” he said, not bothering to glance up from the crossword he was filling out. “I’m closing up in a minute, make sure you don’t stay up too late.”

Akira nodded, despite the fact that Sojiro wasn’t looking, and started heading towards the stairs. “I’ll make you curry once he’s gone.” Ryuji couldn’t help but blush at the words. Akira was going to make curry just for him. The two of them went upstairs.

“Kurusu-senpai, you’re home!” an overly eager and familiar voice spoke as Akira ascended the final step. “I-is it okay for me to call you senpai? I thought it might sound nice?”

Ryuji could hear Morgana groan from inside Akira’s bag. He quickly stepped up the last couple steps so that he could see who was there.

“Mishima, what do you need?” Akira asked, setting his bag down so that Morgana could jump out. Ryuji frowned. Is it normal for Mishima to be waiting for Akira to get home?

Mishima began rattling off about the phantom aficionado site after muttering a quick hello to Ryuji. Ryuji took the opportunity to look around the room. A few things had moved around since he last was there, and he couldn’t help but grin to himself when he saw that Akira had displayed one of the gifts he had given him on his shelves. He walked over to the chair at Akira’s desk and lounged back in it, tuning back into the conversation.

“Yeah, I saw the new font on the site, it looks great,” Akira said. Ryuji had a feeling that he hadn’t actually seen the font, nor did he care. Either way, Mishima’s entire face lit up.

“Thank you Kurusu-senpai!” A glance to the clock had Mishima grabbing his bag. “I’ve got to go now, thanks for having me!” he said, rushing out the room.

“Don’t call me senpai!” Akira called after him, finally returning his attention to Ryuji. “So, curry?”

Ryuji nodded, jumping to his feet. “I’m starved!” He was relieved that Mishima was finally gone so that he could spend one on one time with Akira. Well, Morgana was there too. Damn cat.

Ryuji and Akira made their way down the stairs, Morgana trailing behind them. Sojiro was already gone, the shop sign flipped to closed, and Akira went to the fridge to look for ingredients. Morgana jumped on his shoulder. “Is there any fish?”

Ryuji rolled his eyes and sat at the counter, pulling out his phone to let his mom know where he was.

“Any messages in the phantom thieves chat?” Akira asked, suddenly standing right across the counter from him. Ryuji jumped and looked up. Akira was holding a mug full of steaming hot chocolate out to him.

Ryuji took the mug and smiled. “Nope. Thanks for the drink man,” he said, nervously taking a sip and burning his tongue. He swore under his breath, and could hear Morgana laughing at him.

“Be careful,” Akira said kindly, turning back to the curry to begin cooking.

There was a comfortable silence while Akira cooked. Morgana had fallen asleep on the chair beside Ryuji, who was playing some dumb free-to-play game on his phone. He was failing miserably at it, because he kept glancing up at Akira and getting distracted, watching the way he focused while cooking. The spicy aroma of the curry started swirling through the air and made Ryuji’s stomach growl. Akira chuckled.

“It’s almost finished,” he said, not looking up from the pan. He stirred the curry a few more times before turning off the burner and dividing it up onto two plates. One plate was placed delicately in front of Ryuji, who licked his lips.

Akira sat one seat away from Ryuji, since Morgana was asleep in the chair directly next to him. Damn cat, Ryuji thought again, though he was slightly glad he could devour the curry without the distraction of Akira’s presence so close to him.

“That was effin’ delicious!” Ryuji exclaimed once his plate was empty. It startled Morgana awake, and he glared at the loud boy before jumping off the chair and heading upstairs for some peace and quiet. Akira chuckled and grabbed both of their dirty plates, disposing of them in the sink before returning to the counter. This time, he sat directly next to Ryuji, who’s face heated up at the close proximity.

“Are you okay?” Akira asked softly. Ryuji looked at him, confused. “You’ve just seemed really quiet and distracted all day. Something is on your mind,” he clarified.

Ryuji gulped. “Yeah, I’m fine, I just had a rough day at school, y’know? The stuff we’re learning right now is total nonsense,” he lied.

Akira nodded, believing him since he so often was struggling with school. “You should ask Makoto to help you. You know she wouldn’t mind. Actually she would probably be mad if you didn’t ask and then failed your exams,” he chuckled.

Ryuji nodded in agreement, standing up from his chair. The air was starting to feel thick and he wasn’t good at keeping up with lies for long. “Yeah, I think I will, thanks Akira. I should probably head home now though,” he said, waving and putting his bag on his back. “See ya,” he called over his shoulder, too nervous to turn and face Akira.

Ryuji practically ran to the bus station once he was around the corner from LeBlanc, cursing himself for acting so stupidly. He boarded his train home, luckily finding an open seat, and leaned back. His phone vibrated in his pocket, and he pulled it out to check his messages.

_Akira to PThieves:_ Hey Makoto, Ryuji needs help with schoolwork.

_Makoto to PThieves:_ I can tutor him after school tomorrow. Tell me next time before you fall behind, Ryuji.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this for my cousin because she said "do it you coward"
> 
> It's been a really long time since I've written anything.
> 
> Also Mishiman calling Akira "senpai" is purely self-indulgent.
> 
> Sorry if I missed any errors while editing.


	2. Chapter 2

Ryuji wanted to bash his head against the table. All he wanted to do was run until his brain shut off completely, but instead he was sitting in the library across from Makoto, trying to pay attention to her tutoring.

“Ryuji, I can tell you’re not listening to me,” Makoto said, sounding exasperated. “You actually got every question on your homework correct, too...”

Ryuji immediately got defensive. “Why do you gotta say actually like it’s such a surprise?”

Makoto sighed. “That’s not what I meant. I just don’t understand why you say you need help when you seem to be understanding everything.”

Ryuji frowned and lowered his head onto the table. “I never actually said I needed help. Akira told you I did. I’m actually following along with what we’re learning right now better than I usually do.”

Makoto nodded. “So why did Akira think you need tutoring, then?”

Ryuji shrugged, not lifting his head from the table. He could hear Makoto shuffling her belongings around and figured she was getting ready to leave. She was probably annoyed at him for wasting her time. After a couple seconds he couldn’t hear her moving around anymore, so he lifted his head, assuming she had left without a word. Surprisingly, she was still standing in front of the table, looking at him expectantly.

“Let’s go talk about this somewhere else,” she said, making it sound more like a question than a command. She wouldn’t force him to tell her anything, but she could clearly tell something was wrong with her teammate.

Ryuji hesitated, weighing his options. He knew he could trust Makoto, but he wasn’t sure if he was ready to tell another person about his feelings. However, if he decided not to tell her, there would be a chance she would go to their leader out of worry, and it was definitely better to have to explain himself to Makoto than to explain himself to Akira. With that in mind, he stood up and nodded. “Alright. Where’re we headed?”

Makoto looked taken off guard by the question. After a few seconds of silence, Ryuji spoke up again. “Uh, Makoto? D’ya want me to pick where we go? ‘Cause I could really go for some food right about now.”

Makoto looked relieved when Ryuji suggested grabbing food. “Yes, let’s go to the diner.”

Ryuji stuffed his things into his bag haphazardly and stood up, following Makoto out of the library and down the stairs. There was an awkward silence between the two of them while they made their way to the station. Well, Ryuji felt awkward, but Makoto seemed to be content to travel in complete silence.

Ryuji spent the time mentally preparing himself for the talk he was about to have. Telling Ann about his feelings had been easy, because she had essentially guessed them beforehand. She had made a joke one day to him about him being a bit too into Akira, and he simply didn’t deny it. She was surprised, but he had a feeling she was more surprised by his honesty than by his actual feelings.

Telling Makoto would be a different story. He would have to find the courage to bring up the subject himself, since he couldn’t imagine her making a joke in the same way Ann had. How was he supposed to just come out and say something like that? He had had a hard enough time bringing it up to his mother in the safety of his own home!

Maybe Ryuji could pretend Makoto was his mom. She did act motherly towards the Phantom Thieves, and it would probably be easier to admit his feelings if he pretended he was just telling his mom again.

Makoto and Ryuji arrived at the diner and made their way to a table. Makoto picked up a menu and browsed it casually, offering Ryuji more time to prepare himself. After they had placed their orders, Makoto looked at him and spoke. “So, why does Akira think you’re falling behind in your classwork?”

Ryuji closed his eyes and took a deep breath, resisting the urge to get up and run from the table. He could do this. “Well, he an’ I were hangin’ out last night and he said he could tell somethin’ was up with me, so I said that school wasn’t makin’ sense, but actually it was him that was makin’ me nervous,” he said, his posture more slouched than usual and his words coming out in a slight mumble. He looked at Makoto. To her credit, she still had the same understanding expression on her face, and was waiting patiently for him to continue. “Damnit, do I really have to say it? I was nervous ‘cause I like the guy. Or somethin’, I dunno, I just feel somethin’ for him.”

Makoto looked surprised, but at least she didn’t look disgusted or angry. “Oh,” she said, nodding. “I didn’t expect that, though it does make sense.”

Ryuji sat up straighter. “Wait, whaddaya mean in makes sense?”

Makoto laughed quietly, not providing him with an answer. “Am I the only one who knows about this?”

Ryuji shook his head. “Nah, Ann knows. And my ma. But that’s it. An’ please don’t tell anybody else.”

“I won’t, I promise. Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me.”

Ryuji nodded, letting the conversation dwindle out. His heart was still pounding from admitting his feelings. “Um,” he spoke up after a moment, “thanks for listenin’ and not freakin’ out. It feels kinda good to tell another person.”

Makoto smiled at him. “You can come to me anytime you need someone to talk to, Ryuji. About anything, not just academics.”

After some small talk, the two of them parted ways. Ryuji made his way home feeling better than he had when he left that morning for school. Talking to Makoto had made him feel lighter and he felt like his head had cleared up a bit. He went to his room as soon as he got home and laid back in his bed. Maybe he would ask Akira to hang out with him tomorrow after school, since his head was clear enough now that he felt like he could hold a conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think Makoto and Ryuji's friendship just ranked up
> 
> Anyway, I had fun writing Makoto
> 
> Let me know if I missed anything while editing.
> 
> Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed! See ya in the next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

Ryuji managed to pay attention to most of his classes the next day. Every spare moment he had, however, he spent rehearsing how he would ask Akira to hang out with him after school, and trying to decide what they would do together. By the time that school was finished for the day, Ryuji had fully worked up the courage to ask Akira to hang out without feeling awkward or distracted.

As he stepped into the school’s hallway, he looked towards 2-D, spotting Akira and Ann walking out together. He called out to them as he approached them, growing nervous when he noticed the intense look on Akira’s face.

“What’s goin’ on?” Ryuji asked, glancing at Ann since Akira was preoccupied with looking at his phone. Ann shrugged back at him, and seconds later his phone buzzed in his pocket. He reached for it, and noticed Ann reaching for hers in her bag as well.

_ Akira to PTheives: _ Mementos today. Everyone free?

Ryuji figured there must be something important to do in Mementos for Akira to have such a serious expression, and nodded to Akira without second thought. He could feel his phone going off repeatedly as each member replied to the message with a confirmation.

“Let’s go to the hideout,” Ryuji said, allowing Akira to take the lead as both he and Ann followed.

-

It wasn’t until the whole team was gathered around a table in LeBlanc’s attic that Ryuji finally found out the cause of that serious expression. It seemed everyone could sense Akira’s mood, because no one spoke until every member was present. Yusuke was the last to arrive, looking around the room as he reached the top of the stairs.

It was Haru that spoke up first. “I was surprised you called for a meeting so abruptly. Is there an important request on the phansite?”

Now that Ryuji thought about it, he could probably guess Akira’s urgency to head into Mementos, for the same thing had happened a couple times before. Occasionally, Akira would come to them all with a personal request, saying that a friend of his needed them to change someone’s heart. Ryuji had no idea how Akira had met so many different people after such a short time in the city, but he was always happy to help anyone who needed it, especially if they were important to Akira.

This time, it seemed that someone was being blackmailed into overworking themselves, and because of it they were miserable and kept falling ill. As Morgana gave them all the synopsis, Ryuji watched Akira’s face. He seemed to be very worried about whoever this was, meaning their situation must be very bad. Either that, or Akira had an extremely close relationship with this person. Ryuji pushed that thought out of his mind, reminding himself that Akira had been this concerned about every friend he had helped.

“Alright, well what are we waitin’ for? Lets head in,” Ryuji said, standing up from his seat.

-

Now that the team had so many members, fitting everyone inside of Morgana meant sitting a bit closer to each other. Ryuji, as usual, was sandwiched between the door and Akira. He stared out the window, watching the creepy scenery and trying to ignore the warmth radiating from where Akira’s shoulder was pressed to his.

“I am still not used to this place,” Haru spoke from the back. The red aura of Mementos illuminated her face enough to show that she was frowning. “I wonder what causes it to look this eerie.”

“Yeah, it’s kinda scary to think that this place is the public’s palace, basically. Like, is this how the world is really represented in people’s hearts?” Ann answered, resting her elbow on her knee to lean her head on her hand.

Ryuji turned to look at Akira. He was typically very silent, so the best way to know what he was thinking was by reading his face. The two of them made eye contact. It held for a moment, and Ryuji blinked. Akira smiled gently at him and turned away. “Futaba, are we close?”

“Yep! Should be right around the corner!” Futaba spoke, not looking up from whatever it was she was focused on.

Sure enough, they rounded the corner and saw the telltale distorted red wall that meant a target was up ahead. Morgana sped forward through the wall and screeched to a halt on the other side. Ahead were two human figures with yellow eyes, standing and staring ahead at them with evil grins on their faces. Black fog surrounded them like an aura.

Yusuke, Haru, Ann, and Akira exited the car, having decided before that they would be the front line for this battle. Futaba followed them to provide support, and the rest hung back, waiting in case they were needed to switch out with anyone. Makoto turned to face Ryuji, smiling at him. “How are you feeling today?”

Ryuji leaned back in his seat. “I’m fine,” he said, hoping she wouldn’t bring up anything they had spoken about yesterday while Morgana could clearly hear them. (And Futaba. Futaba was always eavesdropping on everyone, especially in the metaverse.)

Makoto nodded. “Are you doing better with your  _ schoolwork _ ?”

Ryuji gave her a look. “Yeah,” he answered shortly.

Luckily, despite Makoto’s tactlessness, Morgana just laughed and started tormenting Ryuji about his grades and intelligence. Ryuji argued back, but really didn’t mind. This was better than Morgana knowing about his crush, and maybe Makoto having to sit and listen to their bickering would dissuade her from bringing up the subject again. She certainly looked annoyed, based on what Ryuji could see of her face.

Eventually their bickering came to an end (with a sharp “that’s enough!” from Makoto) and they sat in silence for the rest of the wait, watching the battle from afar. Eventually, the shadows dissolved and Akira stepped forward to grab whatever treasure they left behind, and the whole group made their way back to the car. The warm presence was back on Ryuji’s shoulder.

“Nice work everyone,” Makoto said kindly once they were all seated again. “Are we headed back for today or did you want to explore more?” she asked, looking to their leader.

“Home; we’ve done enough for today,” he replied, leaning back in his seat. Makoto started driving, and for a while it was silent, until Ann turned around in her seat to look at Akira.

“So, Kawakami?”

Ryuji furrowed his eyebrows. Why was Ann bringing up their teacher?

Akira actually looked sheepish, and shrugged. “She’s having a rough time and I knew we could help.”

“Yeah, but how did you even find out that she was going through this?”

Ryuji turned to face Akira next, spinning his entire body to face him fully. “Wait, the friend who needed help this time was  _ Kawakami? _ ” At this point, Makoto was looking at Akira too.

“Should I know who Kawakami is?” Yusuke asked, glancing between everyone’s surprised expressions.

Akira shrugged again. “Is it really that weird to become friends with your teacher?”

Suddenly, Ryuji remembered his earlier thoughts, and his face paled. “Wait, you’re not... you’re not  _ with  _ Kawakami, right?”

Akira laughed. “No, she just cleans my room for me.”

“That’s even weirder!” Ann exclaimed.

-

The subject was dropped pretty quickly. They all knew Akira wouldn’t lie to them, and if he thought something was an important secret, there was no way they’d get it out of him. There was small talk for the rest of the ride back to the entrance, but Ryuji was still recovering from the near-heart attack he had had at the thought of Akira being taken by Kawakami. Sure, he knew one day, likely soon, someone would snatch Akira up, but he didn’t think he could take it if that person was a teacher at Shujin.

They arrived at the entrance of Mementos and all filed out of the bus, allowing Morgana to transform back into his mascot-cat form. Ryuji threw his arms up over his head, stretching and cracking his back. “Man, Mona, can’t you transform into a bigger car? It’s so cramped in there now.”

Before an argument could start, Akira stepped forward, blocking their view of each other. “I don’t think it’s too bad,” he said, continuing to walk forward, leading the group towards the exit.

It really wasn’t so bad, Ryuji thought. His back and neck kind of ached, but he did get to spend the last hour with his shoulder pressed to Akira’s. It really could be worse.

Once they were out of the metaverse, the group started to part ways. Yusuke left first, lost in thought and without much of an explanation. Haru left next, saying she needed to get home to check on her father, and Makoto and Ann headed off with her. Ryuji looked to Akira. They hadn’t spent very long in mementos today, so there was still plenty of time for Ryuji to ask Akira to hang out.

Before Ryuji could ask, however, Akira was already speaking. “I’m hungry, do you want to get food?”

Ryuji’s eyes widened slightly in shock, and he quickly nodded. “Yeah! I’m starving!” he said, and luckily his enthusiastic tone seemed normal since they were talking about food.

Ryuji suddenly remembered that Futaba was still there when she reached out to grab at Akira’s bag. “I’m headed home! Can I take Mona with me?” she asked, looking up at Akira while still trying to pry the bag from him.

“Hey watch it, be gentle while I’m in here!” Morgana yelled from inside the bag, and Akira laughed, removing the bag from his shoulder and handing it to Futaba.

“Drop off my bag at LeBlanc please,” he smiled at her. Futaba grinned, holding the bag with both arms, muffling the sounds of Morgana throwing a fit inside, and headed off to the subway. She made eye contact with Ryuji as she passed him, giving him a wide grin that he had a hard time deciphering the meaning of. He watched as she disappeared down the stairs, before turning back to Akira. Akira was already looking at him, smiling. “Ramen?”

Ryuji grinned and nodded, ready to spend a rare moment with Akira without having to worry about being interrupted by an annoying cat or his own self-doubt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops its been a while. I kinda forgot about this.
> 
> Lemme know if I missed any spelling/grammar errors while editing.
> 
> Hope you enjoy the chapter!


End file.
